Figure 1.--This colorized CDV depicts an unidentified English boy. We are not sure about hia age, but would guess about 8-7 years old. He is wearing a white cut-away jacket suit with blue buttons and piping trim. He also has a blue bow and small white collar. The outfit is completed with striped long stockings and strap shoes. (You have to look carefully to see the stripes which because of the work involved have not been colorized.) He is holding the peak of what looks like a cadet cap. The portrait is undated, but the sharp corners of the CDV suggest the 1860s. The studio was Smallcombe in London locted near Sherlock Homes on Baker Street. The sudio back drop provides a dramatic English Channel scene.

We do not yet have much information on the color of English cut-away jacket suits. We suspect that they were the same as those popular in America. The trends of course were set in Britain, it is just that more information is available on America because of the greater prevalence of photography in the United States. We do have a few colorized images which provide some informtion. The colorized images we have found so far show cut away jacket suits with the jacket, vest, and pants all done in the same color. So far the light colored suits are light blue, grey, and white. We are not yet sure about the dark colored suits.

Created: 3:56 PM 7/20/2016
Last updated: 3:56 PM 7/20/2016